Welt-sewing machine.



A; EPPLER. WELT SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. I915-Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

w m W A. EPPLER.

WELT SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1915.

l ,QEQEQY, Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

law?

A. EPPLER. WELT SEWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2a, 1915.

6@,52f'?. Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Jwm:

ANDREW EPPLER, OF LYNN, MAS$ACHUSETTE, ASSaIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO

UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPO-RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

WELT-SEWING MACHINE.

Patented Mar. as, .1918.

To a?! whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW EPPL'ER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Welt-SewingMachines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to welt sewing machines for sewing inseams ofwclted shoes. More particularly the invention relates to a welt feedingdevice for supplying slack welt to the shoe feeding mechanism of thesewing machine.

Welting used in the manufacture of welted shoes is usually in the formof a long continuous strip made by cementing short strips of leathertogether, which, when prepared for use in sewing machines, is wound inthe form of a coil or on a reel. The coil or reel is ordinarily placedon the floor near the base of the sewing machine, and one end led to theshoe feeding mechanism which pulls the welt from the coil or reel duringthe sewing operation. l vith this method of handling the welt,considerable strain is put on the welt guide and shoe feeding mechanismin pulling the welt off the supply. The pull on the welt by the shoefeeding devices also puts a strain on the welt which not only tends topull the welt apart at the butts or joints, but also interferes with theproper attachment of the welt to the shoe, especially at the toeportion, where it is desirable to have the welt attached so that it canreadily be flattened out.

The primary object of this invention is to provide means which willsupply welt to the shoe feeding mechanism so as to relieve the mechanismand the welt of the objectionable strain or pull above mentioned. Tothis end the invention contemplates the provision in a welt sewingmachine of a welt feeder for feeding slack welt to the sewing point sothat the welt will offer no objectionable resistance to the forwardmovement of the shoe feeding mechanism. a

Another object of this invention is to provide means for supplying tothe stitch forming mechanism just the amount of welting used in makingthe stitch, regardless of the arying length of feeding stroke of theshoe feeding mechanism in making different lengths of stitch. Inaccordance with this object the invention contemplates the provision ina welt sewing machine of a welt feeding device for feeding a greateramount of welt to the shoe feeding mechanism than is used in making thestitch during the forward stroke of said mechanism and then re tractingthe excess welt not used in making the stitch during the return strokeof said mechanism.

. A further object of this invention is to provide a mechanism formeasuring or limiting the forward movement of the welt when the shoe isremoved from the machine at the completion of the sewing operation, sothat the welt may be severed with a minimum waste of material. Inaccordance with this object, a feature of the invention contemplates theprovision of means whereby the welt feeding device may be utilized as awelt measurer to limit the forward movement of the welt when removingthe shoe from the machine, and predetemine the welt severing point.

In addition to the above features, the invention includes certainfurther features of construction and arrangement referred to in theclaims which contribute to the ei'iiciency and simplicity of themachine. I

The various features of the invention will be readily understood from aninspection of the accompanying drawings, and the following detaileddescription of the mechanism illustrated therein.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation showing a welt sewingmachine embodying the invention in its preferred form; Fig. 2 is a planview of the welt feeding dc vice; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view ofthe welt feeding device taken on the line 3-3 of Fig 2; and Fig. l is aside elevation of a portion of the sewing machine head showing themounting of the welt feeding device thereon.

In the drawings the invention is shown as embodied in a welt sewingmachine having the construction and mode of operation of the machineshown and described in the patent to Eppler, No. 1,108,560, dated August25, 1914. This machine is provided with the usual stitch forming andshoe feeding devices including a looper 10, a

thread finger 12, a feed point or awl 14:, and a channel guide 16, theawl and channel guide being mounted on a horizontal reciprocating feedslide 18. The machine is also provided with a welt guide 20 for holdingthe welt adjacent the sewing point during the sewing operation. As isusual in this type of machines, the cam shaft 22 makes one revolutionfor each cycle of operations performed by the stitch forming and workfeeding devices.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the welt24 (Fig. 1) coming from the supply, which may be either in the form of aloose coil or wound upon a reel, passes over a guide 26 mounted in themachine head 28, then through the welt guide 20 to the sewing point. Theguide 26 is in the form of a roll, but is normally locked in astationary position and acts as a support for the welt, so that the weltslides over the guide while it is fed to the sewing point. The guide 26forms one member of a welt feeding device the other member of whichconsists of a roll 30 having teeth on its periphery. The roll isrotatably mounted on a stud 84: which is fixed in the outer end of aclamping lever 86. The clamping lever is pivotally mounted at 38 to afeed arm 40 and the inner end of the lever is acted upon by a spring 12held in a socket l4; in the feed arm 40-. The pivotal mounting of thelever 36 provides for an adjustment of the roll 30 for differentthicknesses of welt, and the spring presses the roll against the welt sothat the teeth 32 will grip the welt in feeding it forward. The weltpasses between the guide 26 and roll 30 with grain side in contact withthe guide and the flesh side in contact with the teeth on the peripheryof the roll. The roll is locked from rotation during its forward or feedstroke by means of a ratchet 46 on the end of the roll, and a springpressed pawl 48 mounted in the clamping lever 36 adjacent the ratchet.The teeth on the roll. are arranged to bite into the flesh side of thewelt, so that a bodily movement of the roll in the direction of feedwilldrag the grain side of the Welt over the guide 26. The forward troke ofthe feed arm is so adjusted that a greater amount of welt is fed forwardto the stitch forming devices than is used in formingthe maximum lengthof stitch, so, that slack welt is supplied at the welt guide while theshoe feeding devices of the sewing machine pull the welt forward. With aslack welt held at the welt guide, no resistance is offered to the.movement of the shoe feeding devices. During the return stroke of thearm 36 the roll 30"still grips the welt, due to the tension of thespring 42, and the resistance of the ratchet pawl 48, so that it dragsthe welt back across the guide until enough strain has been put upon thewelt between resistance of the pawl 48, when the wheel will roll overthe welt back to the position shown in Fig. 3, in order to get a newgrip on the work for the next feed stroke.

The forward and return strokes of the roll 30 are made during onerevolution of the cam shaft 22, or while one stitch is being formed inthe shoe. These movements of the roll are obtained by a connection withthe shoe feeding mechanism. The feed arm 4-0 which carries the feed rollis integral with a feed shaft 50 that is held in a bore 52 of ameasuring shaft 54; which supports the guide 26. A segment arm 56 issecured by a split hub and clamping bolt 58 to the end of the'feed shaft50 and connccted by means of a bell crank lever 60 (Fig. to a lever 62for reciprocating the feed slide 18 of the sewing machine. The bellcrank lever 60 is mounted upon a bracket 64-, fastened on the end of afulcrum rod 66, which carries the stopping mechanism for the cam shaftof the sewing machine. One end of the bell crank lever is provided witha toothed segment 68 which meshes with the teeth on the segment arm 56,and the other end of the lever has a sliding connection 70 with the stud72 upon which the cam roll Tel for the feed slide lever mounted. The camroll 745 is reciprocated in a line substantially parallel with the camshaft22' by meansof the feed cam '26. This movement rotates the hellcrank 60 about its axis and rocks the feed haft 50 which gives thefeeding movement to the welt.

Welt and turn sewing machines are usually provided with a guide for thewelt in order to hold the welt in proper position to go through the weltguide. The patent to Topha-m No. 1,099,326, dated June 9, 1914i,describes a guide for the welt that is used in measuring the amount ofweltpulled forward when the shoe is removed from the machine, and themeasuring mechanism also serves to actuate a clutch for operating thewelt severing and holding devices. The guide 26 for the welt inapplicants invention, in addition to its feeding function, also acts asa device measuring the amount of welt pulled forward at the completionof the sewing operation, and serves further to operate a clutch foractuating the welt sev'ernected with the guide 26 by means of an arm 88keyed on the-end of the rock shaft, and a connecting link 90 which ispinned to a measuring arm 92 that is keyedto the measuring shaft 54 ofthe welt guide 26. When the rod 80 is pushed up through the slot in thearm 8%, the rock shaft 86, is free to oscil late and consequently theguide 526 is free to be turned by a forward pull on the welt as the shoeis removed from the machine. The turning movement of the guide and ofthe shaft 54- is determined by a pin 94 mounted in the machine frame soas to project into a slot 96 in the measuring arm 92. When the turningmovement of the guide 26 is stopped by the pin 94: striking the end ofthe slot 96 a much greater resistance is offered to the pull which isbeing exerted on the welt by the operator so that the exact amount ofwelt to be pulled forward in removing the shoe can be accuratelydetermined. To vary the amount of welt pulled forward when the shoe isremoved from the machine in order that the welt may be severed atdifierent distances from the end of the seam, the slot 96 in themeasuring arm is provided with an adjusting screw. I

The connections of the measuring arm 92 with the rock shaft 86 are soadjusted that the movement of the guide 26 due tothe forward pull on thewelt will oscillate a latch 100 on the rock shaft 86 (Fig. 1) to releasea driving clutch for operating the welt severing device 102. Through theoperation of the driving clutch a toothed arm 104; is

oscillated which rotates the bevel gear 106 for manipulating the weltsevering device 102. The clutch operating and locking mechanism and rockshaft 86 with its connections to the measuring arm 92, as well as thewelt severing device, have substantially the same construction and areoperated in the same manner as the welt measuring and severing devicereferred to in the Topham patent above mentioned, and reference ishereby made to said patent for a detailed description of theconstruction and operations of parts for said mechanism. After the welthas been severed it is held in position ready to be attached to the nextshoe. Upon starting the sewing operation the latch 78 is oscillated bythe rotation of thecam shaft 22 to draw down the rod 80 and lock therock shaft 86 from rotation. By this movement of the shaft 86 the guide26 is moved back into position ready to measure the welt for the nextsevering operation.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention, andspecifically described one of the forms of the machine in which it maybe embodied, what is claimed is l. A welt sewing machine, having, incombination, stitch-forming and shoe feeding mechanism, and meansbetween the shoe feeding mechanism and the welt supply for gripping thewelt and feeding it forward to supply slack welt to said mechanism.

2. A weltsewing machine, having, in combination, stitch-forming and shoefeeding mechanism, and intermittently operated means for gripping thewelt and for feeding forward to the said feeding mechanism a length ofwelt greater than the'length of a stitch.

3. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch-forming andshoe feeding mechanism, and a welt feeder for feeding forward to saidmechanism an amount of welt greater than the length of a stitch and thenretracting the slack of the welt while each stitch is being formed.

4. A welt-sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch-forming andshoe feeding mechanism, and a welt feeder for feeding varying amounts ofwelt to the stitch forming mechanism to correspond to the varying amountof welt used in forming different lengths of stitch.

5. A welt sewing machine, having in combination, stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism, a welt feeding mechanism for feeding forward welt tothe stitch forming mechanism, and means for controlling the welt feedingmechanism to measure the amount of welt pulled forward in removing ashoe from the machine.

6. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch-forming andshoe feeding mechanism, a welt feeder for advancing the welt to thestitch forming mechanism, devices to limit the movement of said feederto limit the forward movement of the welt upon the withdrawalof theshoe.

7. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch-formingmechanism, welt severing mechanism, a welt feeder for advancing the weltto the stitch-forming mechanism, and means connected with the feeder tooperate the welt severing mechanism upon a forward pull on the welt.

8. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch-forming andshoe feeding mechanism, a welt feeder, and means for moving the weltfeeder toward the stitchforming mechanism to give slack welt during theforward stroke of said feeding mechanism and away from saidstitch-forming mechanism to draw back the slack welt not used in thestitch-forming operation during the return stroke of said feedingmechamsm.

9. A welt sewing machine, having, in combmation, stitch-forming and shoefeeding mechanism, a rotatable welt guide for supporting the welt, weltfeeding means to feed the welt over said guide, means to operate saidfeeding means, and mechanism to hold the welt guide from movement duringthe welt feeding operation.

10. A welt sewing machine, having, in.

combination, stitch-forming and shoe feeding mechanism, a welt guide, awelt feeder for moving the welt over the. guide comprising; a toothedwheel to grip the Welt, means formoving the wheel bodily back and forth,andmeans for locking the wheel. from rotation in one direction.

11. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch-forming andshoe feed:- ing mechanism including a. feed slide lever, a welt guide, awelt feeding rollto grip the welt on said guide, a pawl and ratchet.controlling the rotation of the roll and means connected. with said feedlever to move the roll. bodily to feed the. welt: across. the guideduring the feed" stroke of the lever and cause the roll toroll over thewelt during the return strokevof the lever.

12. A, welt sewing machine, having in combination, stitch forming andshoe feed- 1.1:

ing mechanism, a Welt guide engaging the Welt close to the; sewingpoint, a guide for the welt remote from the sewing point, and means forgripping therwelt and feeding it forward. over said last. mentionedguide to supply slack welt to. said mechanism;

7 ANDREW EPPLER. Witnesses:

(lnns'rnn- E. ROGERS, LAURA M. GooDRIneE.

floppies of. this patent may be. ohtainedror five cents each, byaddressing the commissloner of Patents,

Washington, D. G."

